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(Reuters) - China is signaling that it is keen to get on top of troubled ties with the United States, Japan and North Korea with the likely appointment of two officials with deep experience of these countries to its top diplomatic posts.

Current Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, ambassador to Washington from 2001-2005 and a polished English speaker, is tipped to be promoted to state councilor with responsibility for foreign policy, three independent sources said.

(Reuters) - Pope Benedict slips quietly from the world stage on Thursday after a private last goodbye to his cardinals and a short flight to a country palace to enter the final phase of his life "hidden from the world".

In keeping with his shy and modest ways, there will be no public ceremony to mark the first papal resignation in six centuries and no solemn declaration ending his nearly eight-year reign at the head of the world's largest church.

A woman wearing a mask rides her bicycle along a street on a hazy morning in Beijing, February 28, 2013. Beijing's environmental authorities said on Thursday air quality in Beijing and nearby regions hit dangerous levels, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/China Daily

by Clare Richardsonon Feb 28, 2013 at 3:34 PM

Car travel on a hazy day in Beijing February 28, 2013. Beijing's environmental authorities said on Thursday air quality in Beijing and nearby regions hit dangerous levels, Xinhua News Agency reported. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

(Reuters) - French forces in Mali have killed Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, a leading field commander of al Qaeda's north Africa wing AQIM, Algerian Ennahar television said.

The station said 40 militants including Abu Zeid were killed in the region of Tigargara, northern Mali three days ago. A French Defence Ministry official declined to comment on the report. Algeria did not confirm the killing.

(Reporting by Lamine Chikhi and John Irish; Editing by Alison Williams)

Retired NBA star Dennis Rodman arrived in North Korea, yes, North Korea, on Tuesday in the latest of a series of visits by American citizens to the Stalinist state. Rodman and three members of the Harlem Globetrotters will engage in “basketball diplomacy,” according to this exclusive Associated Press story on Rodman’s trip. The retired Chicago Bulls star and five-time NBA champion will play an exhibition game with North Korea’s top basketball stars and conduct a basketball camp for children.

Almost two years after his death at the hands of U.S. special forces in Pakistan, a U.N. Security Council committee has removed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from its sanctions list, although an order freezing any assets of the Islamist extremist remains in place.

OTTAWA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - France is still ready to start pulling its forces out of Mali next month despite a rebel attack on the key town of Gao, the French commander of the defense staff said on Friday.

Admiral Edouard Guillaud told reporters after a speech in Ottawa that he was not surprised by Thursday's attack in Gao, when 15 Islamists were killed by French and Malian troops.

Asked whether France still planned to start withdrawing troops in March, he replied: "This is obviously conditions-based, that's obvious. But yet, I don't see any reason not to begin some drawdown."

A Reuters photographer spent a month on the front lines of the war in Syria, traveling through underground opposition networks, witnessing bloody battles, and watching men die before his eyes. Read on and see the photos here.

In a month on the frontline, I saw them defend a swathe of suburbs in the Syrian capital, mount complex mass attacks, manage logistics, treat their wounded - and die before my eyes.

Two years after a pro-democracy uprising, Egypt resembles a rickety bus rolling towards a cliff, its passengers too busy feuding over blame to wrench the steering wheel to safety.

Foreign exchange reserves are dwindling. Tourism is moribund. Investment is at a standstill. Subsidised diesel fuel and fertilizer are in short supply, while the cost of subsidies is swelling the budget deficit unsustainably.

An Iberia worker is arrested by Spanish riot police officer during clashes at Madrid's Barajas airport, February 18, 2013. Workers at loss-making Spanish flag carrier Iberia began a five-day strike at midnight on Monday, grounding over 1,000 flights and costing the airline and struggling national economy millions of euros. REUTERS/Sergio Perez

"Blade Runner" Oscar Pistorius put on his artificial legs and walked across his bedroom before firing four shots through a locked bathroom door, killing his cowering girlfriend in cold blood, prosecutors said on Tuesday.

Latest update: Meteorite explodes over Russia, more than 1,000 injured

A meteorite streaked across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, raining fireballs over a vast area and causing a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured 1,200 people.

(Reuters) - The Venezuelan government will publish photographs of Hugo Chavez on Friday, the information minister said on Twitter, in what would be the first sight of the president since he had cancer surgery in Cuba on December 11.

(Reuters) - More than 500 people were injured when a meteorite shot across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, sending fireballs crashing to Earth, shattering windows and damaging buildings.

France's President Hollande is in India for a two-day state visit. In addition to negotiating the sale of 126 jets and agreeing to sell 50 helicopters to an Indian firm, the Globe and Mail reports Hollande has ruffled feathers by bringing his (unwed) partner Valerie Trierweiler. From the Globe and Mail:

"The fact that the couple are not married forced the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi to update protocol dating back to the Raj. The existing rule meant that a head of state’s girlfriend or boyfriend could not be recognized as the official spouse and would therefore not live in the presidential palace in New Delhi, nor attend official functions."

France's President Francois Hollande (R) shakes hands with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as his partner Valerie Trierweiler (C) looks on during Hollande's ceremonial reception at the forecourt of India's presidential palace Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, February 14, 2013. Hollande is on a two-day long state visit to India. REUTERS/B Mathur

On Valentine's Day in Japan and South Korea, men will get a free pass on giving gifts. Today, it's up to the women to shower the men in their lives with chocolate. The tables will turn next month on March 14, "White Day," when men are expected to buy a white gift (marshmallows or lingerie, for example).

This article from CNN points out that Valentine's Day is just one of several "calendar-dictated romantic days" in South Korea:

Next is Black Day on April 14, when downbeat singles who didn't receive any goodies head to local Chinese restaurants to commiserate over their loneliness while eating jjajyangmyeon, or "black noodles."

Surprisingly, one of the most popular gift-giving days of the year is November 11, or Pepero Day, so named in honor of a favorite Korean stick-shaped snack.

Here's AFP with some historical context for the $11 billion chocolate business in Japan:

Chocolate has been available in Japan since at least 1797, when it was given to prostitutes by Dutch traders -- the only Europeans allowed a foothold in an otherwise closed country where travelling abroad was punishable by death.

A protester carries snacks with pictures of Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy during a Valentine's Day themed demonstration against central and Basque regional government cuts in Bilbao, February 14, 2013. REUTERS/Vincent West

A riot policeman patrols the streets during the second anniversary of the February 14 uprising in the village of Sanabis, west of Manama, February 14, 2013. A Bahraini teenager was killed by security forces on Thursday, an opposition website reported, as activists demonstrated on the second anniversary of an uprising demanding democratic reforms in the U.S.-allied Gulf Arab state. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

Tyres burn on a road to create a blockade to mark the second anniversary of the February 14 uprising, in Budaiya, west of Manama, February 14, 2013. Protesters burnt tires and blocked most of the major roads leading to various highways causing delays in the early morning traffic. Alerts were issued to citizens of Britain and the U.S. residing in the country, according to their embassies. British and American schools were given a day off following the alert. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed

The death toll in Syria is likely approaching 70,000 - up almost 10,000 from the start of the year - and civilians are paying the price for the U.N. Security Council's lack of action to end the conflict, the U.N. human rights chief said on Tuesday.

BEIRUT, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Protesters in Lebanon blocked the northern border crossing with Syria on Wednesday to stop fuel shipments they said were being used to resupply President Bashar al-Assad's military.

Around 30 trucks were forced to stop on the Lebanese side of the Arida border crossing between the two countries and at one stage only pedestrians were able to cross over.

"Today we are seeing that the Syrian regime and Lebanese regime ... are transferring diesel to Syrian tanks, trucks and military vehicles from Lebanon," said parliamentarian Mouein Merehbi, who joined protesters at the border.

A visibly moved Pope Benedict tried to assure his worldwide flock on Wednesday over his stunning decision to become the first pontiff in centuries to resign, saying he was confident that it would not hurt the Church.

An airplane is seen parked at Aleppo international airport, controlled by forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, February 12, 2013. Activists said clashes erupted between Free Syrian Army fighters and government troops near Aleppo international airport, and they said civilian airplanes were used to supply the regime forces with weapons and food. REUTERS/Malek Al Shemali

Syrians look behind as they sit in the back of a pickup truck as they return from the closed Cilvegozu border gate near the town of Reyhanli at the Turkish-Syrian border in Hatay province February 13, 2013. A Syrian minibus exploded at a crossing on Turkey's border with Syria near the Turkish town of Reyhanli on Monday, killing 14 people including Turkish citizens and wounding dozens more, Turkish officials said. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Tunisian Islamist leader says coalition government to emerge this week

TUNIS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Rached Ghannouchi, the leader of Tunisia's main Islamist Ennahda party, said on Tuesday he expected Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali to form a coalition government this week that would include politicians as well as technocrats.

"I expect that agreement will be reached and I expect Jebali will remain the prime minister of a coalition government," he told Reuters in an interview.

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will announce in his State of the Union address on Tuesday that 34,000 troops will return from Afghanistan by early 2014, a source familiar with the speech told Reuters.

"The president will announce that 34,000 troops will be back from Afghanistan a year from tonight," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai last month agreed to speed the handover of combat operations in Afghanistan to Afghan forces.

There are about 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Washington's NATO allies have been steadily reducing their troop numbers despite doubts about the ability of Afghan forces to shoulder full responsibility for security.

Phil Bronstein, the former editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, has written a 15,000 word yarn that describes the courage, humility and poor job prospects of the Navy SEAL who apparently killed Osama bin Laden.

If the Vatican chose the next pope based on demographics, there would be a clear regional frontrunner. Forty-two percent of the world’s Catholics live in Latin America, and the surprise resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on Monday could be an opportunity for the Holy See to elect its first non-European pope.

Malian troops hunted house-to-house in Gao on Monday for Islamist insurgents whose surprise attack inside the northern town at the weekend posed a risk of France's forces becoming entangled in a messy guerrilla war in Mali.

REYHANLI, Turkey, Feb 11 (Reuters) - A car exploded at a crossing on Turkey's border with Syria near the Turkish town of Reyhanli on Monday, killing at least nine people including Turkish citizens and wounding dozens more, officials said.

Witnesses said they saw the car drive up to the Cilvegozu border post, one of the main crossing points for Syrian refugees into Turkey, shortly before the explosion.

Free Syrian Army fighters carry placards as they pose in front of a helicopter in Binnish, in Idlib Province, February 8, 2013. The placard (R) reads 'The Syrians called on Arabs for help, and the Palestinians laughed about it'. REUTERS/Mohamed Kaddoor/Shaam News Network/Handout

At a faster rate than many expected, the post-Arab Spring’s Islamist governments are stumbling.

For weeks, President Mohammad Mursi has faced increasingly violent opposition in Egypt. And now the Islamist rulers of Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, are facing growing unrest.

Across the country once considered the region’s best hope for democracy, mass protests and political paralysis have erupted following the assassination of a leading secular politician on Wednesday.

The anger and grief at Chokri Belaid’s death is real, according to this piece by my colleague Tarek Amara in Tunis. But it is also a reflection of the growing divide between secular Tunisians and the ruling Islamist party Ennahda.

About 5,000 refugees are fleeing Syria each day, seeking safe haven in neighboring countries, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.

"This is a full-on crisis," Adrian Edwards, spokesman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told a news briefing in Geneva. "There was a huge increase in January alone, we're talking about a 25 percent increase in registered refugee numbers over a single month."

WASHINGTON No negotiations can be held with North Korea until it improves its behavior, a White House official said on Wednesday, raising questions about U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's offer to begin talks with Pyongyang any time and without pre-conditions. | Video

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